The storyline in "Memphis," on stage at the Marcus Center through Sunday, goes like this.

A high school dropout named Huey Calhoun - white - stumbles downstairs into a seedy African-American club in 1950s Memphis. Huey has been drawn there by the voice of Felicia Farrell - an equally young singer. Huey falls hard, as he already had for rhythm and blues.

Huey can't read and can barely hold a job. But his enthusiasm for and knowledge of what is then called "race music" - and the colorfully wacky personality with which he champions its cause - land him a gig as a DJ and then as the host of a television show akin to "American Bandstand."

Huey's white boss tolerates his antics because Huey proves wildly popular with both white and African-American teenagers. He also wins Felicia's heart, pitting these star-crossed lovers against the hidebound prejudice of their native city. Propelled by her talent, Felicia pursues stardom of a different kind, dreaming of a somewhere that is elsewhere.

Borrowing heavily from "Hairspray" - with a dash of "West Side Story" and "Dreamgirls" thrown in - it's a tired story filled with stock characters and improbable transformations. But there were nevertheless long stretches during Tuesday's opening performance when it was easy to grasp what lured Huey into that Beale Street club - and imagine following him there.

That's because the real story in "Memphis" - presented by this touring cast with energy and heart, and buoyed by Sergio Trujillo's exuberant, well-executed choreography - is embedded in its music.

Nobody will mistake the "Memphis" score - by Joe DiPietro and Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan - with the dark and dense Memphis sound. But as a well-crafted, hook-laden homage to the likes of James Brown, Chuck Berry and the early Supremes - as well as the gospel music that gave this music its soul - "Memphis" easily makes the grade.

So, too, does this cast, which can flat-out sing.

Playing her namesake, Felicia Boswell leads the way. Whether she is channeling one of the period's girl groups, reaching for the heavens with a Sunday choir, or showing her sultry side in the nightclub, Boswell combines powerful pipes with great vocal control. And when she really let go Tuesday night in "Colored Woman" - pouring out the pain of what that meant in the 1950s South - she owned the Marcus Center.

Boswell also exudes a strength that Montego Glover - Felicia on Broadway - didn't demonstrate. Combined with Bryan Fenkart's terrific Huey - equally funny but also more dorky, naive and vulnerable than Chad Kimball on Broadway - Boswell's performance shifts the balance of power between the lovers, in Felicia's favor.

That's important, in a show that can't afford to become yet another tale of a white guy leading the way to the promised land. Boswell leaves no doubt she can get there on her own, and the rousing ovation she received made clear that plenty of others were willing to journey there with her.

IF YOU GO

"Memphis" continues through Sunday at the Marcus Center, 929 N. Water St. For tickets, call (414) 273-7206 or go to marcuscenter.org.

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Keep up with the art scene and trends in urban design with art and architecture critic Mary Louise Schumacher. Every week, you'll get the latest reviews, musings on architecture and her picks for what to do on the weekends.